Two Lunatics through Europe
by Colorici74
Summary: Hikaru and Madoka are two teenage girls travelling through the entire Europe, determined to visit every single country they meet in their way. However, this trip isn't gonna end really randomly, and some certain people will prove this to them. Kyoya x Hikaru and Gingka x Madoka. Other pairings unknown yet.
1. Iceland and Insecurity

_**A/N: So, yeah, this will be the craziest story I've ever written, about Hikaru and Madoka's trip to Europe. I'm planning to write their adventures in every single country of Europe, each country will have a chapter dedicated to it, except those little ones, aka San Marino, Andorra, Vatican, Cyprus and some others.**_

_**This time I won't take advice from anyone, I'll write just whatever comes into my mind, just I feel like. That's the fun of writing. Some of you may remember that story, 'She my person'. I'm planning on doing something as crazy as it was 'cause I miss the times when I was writing it.**_

_**Okay, pairings are, as always, Kyoya x Hikaru, Gingka x Madoka [ehh, who knows, I may write Tsubasa x Madoka, too... Unknown yet], maybe Kenta x Yu friendship. Possibly some others, in small amounts.**_

_**So, yeah... Let's get started.**_

* * *

**Chapter 1:** Iceland and Insecurity

Hikaru and Madoka were idly walking along the road, the last girl making researches on her tablet, while the other was looking around, analyzing the place. The road was completely immaculate, and some people were cleaning it with washing powder and warm water from geysers, which are very common in Iceland. They wash roads like every day, and cars sporadically pass by without sprinkling everyone with it.

"So, have you found anything?" Hikaru curiously asked her brunette friend, who looked at her slightly apathetically.

"Yeah. We're in Selfoss town," she answered, nodding her head rhythmically, "There are about 60 kilometers from here to Reykjavik. We can get a bus to take us there."

Hikaru nodded slowly, pondering about what Madoka said. "That's good," she replied, "Let's get started then."

* * *

The sleepy city of Reykjavik, together with its fairly tall buildings and houses, was beautifully lying before some much taller immaculate mountains surrounded by water, the azure sky carefully overseeing everything; just some sneaky crows and white clouds dared to sporadically disturb the peace.

After arriving to Reykjavik, the two girls began to explore around by feet, their backpacks hanging on their shoulders. The temperature was lower, which is a specific thing for Iceland and for Scandinavia, so the girls adapted and dressed up with trousers and long-sleeved shirts.

Madoka, who was still searching for information on her tablet, told Hikaru, "Did you know that Icelanders don't pay power bills?"

The amethyst-eyed girl raised an eyebrow curiously, "What do you mean? Their electricity comes free?"

Madoka nodded her head, assuring Hikaru that what she was saying was right, "Yep. That's because it helps the economy grow," she explained with that smart girl air of her, "Also, Iceland's population isn't even of a half million, but about 300,000 residents and many of them live in fishing villages."

"Really?" Hikaru asked on a surprised voice as looking around in the city, "But the city looks really modern, you know... It doesn't look like the capital of a country where most of the people are poor, you know..."

The colorful roofs of the houses were just bringing some gaiety in your heart at seeing them. Red, yellow, blue, almost every color.

"Anyway, we should feed ourselves and then go exploring," Hikaru suggested, and Madoka agreed as shutting down her tablet. The blue-haired girl looked around, searching for a place to buy food. And, soon, she found one, really close to them, "Hey, look! There's a cafeteria over there!" she exclaimed, pointing towards a relatively small building painted in yellow.

Both made their way to that place and entered. They let their backpacks somewhere and had some soup at a table.

"After we eat, where are we going?" Hikaru asked while taking a sip of her soup.

"Dunno... Maybe we can visit a museum or something, I guess?" the brunette suggested quietly, "Or, we can go sightseeing..."

"Oh, you must be tourists, right?" someone disturbed the girls' discussion. Both looked up to see that the owner of the voice was a child staring at them with some curious emerald green eyes.

"Um... Yeah... So?" Hikaru skeptically asked while letting her spoon rest on the edge of her white bowl. The boy, who was dressed fairly expensive, smiled cheerfully while raising his hand, saluting bubbly, "Hi. I'm Yu. Yu Tendo. I'm a tourist, too, and I was wondering if you don't want us to visit the surroundings together," he suggested happily, his huge grin occupying at last a quarter of his figure.

"Um... You're a tourist?" the amethyst-eyed female asked perplexedly, at which Yu nodded his head swiftly, giving them another fresh innocent smile. However, Yu's cuteness didn't impress Hikaru, "Um, I don't think we have time to—"

Anyway, she couldn't finish her sentence because of her brunette friend...

"Of course you may come with us to explore the surroundings, Yu!" Madoka answered, ignoring Hikaru's skepticism. Madoka was quite pleased to meet new people, while, Hikaru, on the other hand, wasn't really happy with this. But the point is... How comes that a foreign kid is alone, here, in a country like Iceland – cold, surrounded by icy waters? If he came to ask for help, it means he doesn't have anyone mature with him to guide him, or, at least, that's what Hikaru deduced, perfectly logically. Meanwhile, Madoka continued, "I'm Madoka, and she's Hikaru, my friend! Nice to meet you, Yu!"

Hikaru fought a smile to Yu, analyzing him. He was dressed somehow like a whatsoever rich child, and had orange hair, together with a pale skin and some emerald deep eyes.

"Nice to meet you, too, Madoka, Hippety-Hop!"

"Name's Hikaru," the blue-haired girl corrected coldly, but Yu pretended he didn't hear it. He sat down between the two girls, his smile refusing to disappear. Hikaru continued eating her soup, swallowing all her anger together with the hot liquid. Even so, she continued to supervise the situation from the dark.

"So, Yu, you've come to Iceland on your own?" Madoka by-the-wayed bubbly while eating her soup as well.

"Yeah, actually, I was planning on visiting the entire North Europe this year, so I've decided to start by coming to Iceland. What about you?"

"Oh, us? We're going to see the entire Europe, from North to South," the brunette answered, "By the way, you're alone here? I mean, don't you have your parents, or at least any friends?"

"Nah, I like travelling on my own," Yu said without losing his exuberance, "I live with my dad, and he allows me to do anything I like!"

Madoka seemed surprised and confused at the same time. Yu didn't seem older than 10...

"Um... I think we should visit The National Museum after we finish eating," Madoka changed the topic abruptly, "I heard they have interesting things about Vikings... Do you want soup, Yu?"

The child shook his head, "Nope, I already had lunch," he explained patiently, "I'm just waiting for you two to finish eating."

* * *

**~At the museum~**

"Whoa... Look at this... These things about Iceland are so detailed!" Madoka exclaimed on an astonished voice while reading every small text written next to the figurines, "It is basically Iceland's history over 12 centuries! Did you know that, at the beginning of the 18th century, Iceland had just 50,000 inhabitants?"

"Oh, really?" Hikaru fought to say, "I didn't know."

But Hikaru never really liked museums. They are too cold, too big and too hostile for her. It is always so quiet, and smells weird... Plus, many old people come here... If it wouldn't have been free, she wouldn't have paid those 20 dollars to come here. However, since they are just eighteen, entrance is free.

"Um... There was a gift shop at the ground floor... I'm coming in a moment," she announced quietly, and Madoka didn't even pay attention to her – she was too fascinated by the museum's beauty.

Hikaru made her way through the quiet halls of the museum, wanting to find that gift shop to buy herself a souvenir. After leaving the museum, she wants to go explore the city, maybe have a drink, but, more than this, get to know more about Yu.

However, she felt like someone was stalking her from the moment she left the group. She didn't dare to turn around, so she just took sneaky looks with the corner of her eye, over her shoulder. There was someone behind her, maybe too close by her, but she couldn't see the figure. So she began to walk to the right, to check if that person was going to follow her.

And she was right. That person followed her.

So she began to run through the halls, curious if that person really had a problem with her. She heard steps behind her, other than hers, and someone panting. Both of them were running with the speed of light, in nowhere. Hikaru didn't have a fixed destination, and the chaser was chasing her, so, basically, everything was random. Also, she did her best not to bump into any figurines of the museum.

"Who are you?" she asked viciously, still not looking behind. However, she got no answer. "Damn it! Who are you, I asked!" she repeated loudly, keeping running. She was a good runner, she had to admit. Nevertheless, she got no answer again.

The next moment, she felt a quick pinch running down her neck, but she ignored it because she had another thing to do at that moment. She kept running for minutes, her heart wobbling inside her chest.

That's when she had nowhere to run anymore. The way was over, so she had to stop in a corner of the room.

Surprisingly, when she realized what's going on, she was completely alone. Her vigilant eyes scanned around, but everything she could see were museum stuff. She touched the part of her neck where she felt that slight cut while running. It was a small slice, made with something that wasn't really sharp, however. She felt her neck, and realized that...

...her necklace was gone.

"Damn it!" she ejaculated between her ragged breaths, rubbing that slight cut on her neck.

* * *

**~Later~**

"So..." Hikaru began like nothing happened, walking alongside Madoka and Yu, "How was the visit at the museum?"

"Oh, it was amazing!" Madoka exclaimed, still excited after filling her head with so much knowledge, "I've seen so many things related to Iceland's history! It was really awesome, and Yu liked it, too! Isn't it so, Yu?"

"Yep! It was kinda boring, but they had ice-cream!"

Hikaru just sweat dropped awkwardly, "Whatever. Um, I was wondering, should we see the graveyard of Reykjavik? I heard it has beautiful flowers and the grass is so green..."

"Yeah, Hippety-Hop is right!" Yu agreed immediately, "We can go ghost hunting!"

"Um... I'm not sure..." Madoka tried to change their minds gently. She doesn't really like graveyards since they are so creepy...

"C'mon! I heard it is awesome!" the orange-haired boy insisted with euphoria.

"Uh... Okay, okay, we'll go!"

**~At the graveyard~**

The Icelandic graveyard gave you a strange feeling, a running chill through your spine. It was so quiet, but didn't seem peaceful. There were old spooky trees everywhere, supervising the graves; the crosses were silent, gloomy, but it felt like they left many things unspoken. It looked like they have lived many things, but never had the chance to tell their stories. Even the grass was whistling in the wind, like wanting, too, to paint its story using the colors of the gentle breeze.

Madoka bought some flowers which she placed on a random grave, and then those three began to look around. "Where are the ghosts?" Yu asked confusedly, exploring around with a faded enthusiasm.

However, Hikaru didn't pay attention to those stupidities. Maybe it was just her imagination, but the air felt heavy. Her eyes scanned around – all she could see were graves, crosses, flowers, and a sneaky white butterfly fluttering its wings with energy.

A second later, her meticulous vision noticed a small glimmer within the shapeless darkness losing itself deep into the trees. She immediately turned around, as she realized that it was like the shine of a metallic material meeting the light of the faint sun.

Hikaru narrowed her eyes viciously, scanning every small portion of the panorama.

"Anything happened, Hikaru?" Madoka asked confusedly at seeing that the violet-eyed girl had stopped walking.

"Uhm, no, nothing. Just my imagination," she lied, snapping herself to reality, then joined Madoka and Yu again.

* * *

After visiting the graveyard, those three went to 'The Pearl', or 'Perlan', which is a landmark building of Reykjavik, built in 1988, following Madoka's information. It is some kind of rotating restaurant with good foods, hid under a dome made of glass. It is about 25 meters high – Madoka informed them.

"Look at this!" the brunette exclaimed, showing those two the information she found on her tablet, "They say it has three shops at the fourth floor! And one is for souvenirs! We should go! I wanna buy something for dad!"

And Madoka put her tablet inside her bag and both she and Yu began to run to find the shop.

"Hey, wait for me!" Hikaru exclaimed and began to chase those, trying to catch with their speed.

They bought some fur sweaters for themselves, specific for Iceland since the climate is cold; Madoka took a red one, Hikaru bought herself a blue one while Yu chose a green one.

After that, they went to the viewing platform, which is located at The Pearl, too; they took some panoramic pictures of Reykjavik's divine landscape. And what a beautiful city it was, so sleepy, so calm, so cold...

Hikaru took advantage by the moment to stop thinking about Yu's mystery, or about who had stolen her necklace. After all, Yu is just a kid, right? What can he do to them? And robbers are everywhere, so, yeah, this doesn't really matter. It was just a necklace, nothing too expensive or too precious.

So, she enjoyed the rest of the day, 'cause the girls' plan is precise – they stay just a single day in the places they visit, sleep at night, and next morning leave the city and the respective country.

They browsed through other shops in Reykjavik, but didn't buy too many things since they didn't have much money saved for each country they visit. They have to find small, meaningful things to take from every place they see, not waste money on all they see.

They took pictures with themselves everywhere in Reykjavik, and, for their surprise, the day passed really quickly as they were visiting new places and seeing new people. They didn't even notice it...

At night, they hanged out a little in the city. The sky was cloudy, so the dim moonlight was creating a beautiful image on the sky... There was a silver light with golden edges because the moonlight isn't native from the moon – it comes from the sun, reflects on the surface of the moon then it reaches our eyes, which means that it is originally golden. That light had the texture of the grayish clouds, making it more angelic, but kinda scary.

For their surprise, there were many bars opened in Reykjavik; at every step you took, you could find a new bar with teens and young adults drinking and partying. Late-night restaurants, nightclubs, pubs, all were countless. They never imagined that the calm city they saw in the morning could turn into such a loud and glowing place at night.

They wished to party a little, have a drink and stuff... However, Yu was too young for that, and the girls were truly tired after such a day. They were going to wake up early, to catch the plane to Copenhagen, the next capital they were going to visit.

So, they found a cheap motel to sleep for the night, together with Yu, who, coincidence or not, was going to Denmark, too.

But, once again, Hikaru felt like someone was watching her. As trying to fall asleep, she kept staring into the deep darkness combined with the distant lights coming from the still awake Reykjavik city, like searching for the same glimmer she had seen at the graveyard earlier.

* * *

_**A/N: Oh, yeah! First chappie is done! The next one is Denmark, and they'll visit Copenhagen, its capital. I hope you liked it, really... I don't want to disappoint anyone with this, otherwise, I'll delete it 'cause I don't have time to focus on 2 stories at one time and also to homework and get good grades... So, yeah, I hope it was good.**_


	2. Three Sandwich People through Copenhagen

**Chapter 2: **Three Sandwich People through Copenhagen

A certain blue-haired girl yawned while descending the stairs of the plane, getting in the Kastrup Airport, the biggest in Copenhagen, according to Madoka's information. Madoka followed Hikaru carefully, because many people were trying to get out. Yu was the last, and, because he was very short, Madoka had to hold his hand so he wasn't going to get lost in that agitation of so many people getting out of the plane.

It was late morning when they arrived in Copenhagen, around 9 or 10 AM.

Madoka took a deep breath, enjoying every small touch of that fresh air. She never really liked planes, 'cause you can't really breathe fresh air in there, inside. She likes fresh air, and planes aren't the best place to have that.

"Okay, we're here," she deduced, looking around, "Let's get information about the city," she suggested and the others agreed with a brief nod. And, so, they left the airport and began exploring around.

Copenhagen looked like an aristocratic city in Hikaru's eyes. Even its name makes her think about a rich man dressed in a black tuxedo, making bets. The city seemed to be big, but, yet, small enough to make it elegant and kinda warm.

The small gang of wanderers ambled through the active streets of Denmark's capital, analyzing the places and the sight. After making researches or her tablet, Madoka began to explain how things are, "It says we're in the Amager district..."

Hikaru seemed to be confused, "Um... And... Where shall we be?" she questioned, raising up an eyebrow, that up that it seemed to go out of her forehead.

"Um... I don't know yet, but the Christianshavn district seems interesting. They say there are some nice streets and—"

However, Hikaru cut her sentence, exclaiming while getting closer to the tablet to see better what was written, "Hey, look, the Vesterbro district seems much better! It is full of nightclubs, bars and pubs! We can hang out since our ferry arrives tomorrow at 5 PM. We didn't have time in Reykjavik, but Copenhagen looks good for a little shake!"

Madoka stared stupidly, mumbling really quietly into her friend's ear, so Yu wasn't going to hear her, "They say it is full you-know-what-kind-of shops, Hikaru... We'd better don't go there... Christianshavn is more suitable, plus, it has a lot of history..."

"Oh, come on!" Hikaru insisted with exuberance, "It hasn't got _just_ bars. It probably has historical things and stuff you like... It's not like I'm gonna study the annual breeding of the snowdrops, but you and Yu can go visiting those, while I can go sightseeing and visiting other places, and, at night, we meet in a bar, have a little drink and then go find a motel to stay at... What's so complicated? Look, we can meet in the Vesterbro square at 9 PM!"

Madoka smacked her forehead, scolding her friend monotonously, "Yeah, yeah, remember what you did last time when I let you hang out alone on those fancy streets in Tokyo?"

"I promise it'll be different this time!" the amethyst-eyed girl nervously replied with a titter in the background, "Plus, Copenhagen can't be _exactly_ like Tokyo... With so many... you know... _temptations_..."

The brunette just sweat dropped annoyed, sighing, "Whatever. Fine, we'll take a bus to Vesterbro..."

* * *

**~At Vesterbro**

"Okay, I'll explain it once again," Madoka announced seriously, "I'll go to visit the Museum of Copenhagen and you take Yu and go sightseeing. No bars, no tequila, no dirty stuff, and no narcissism, Hikaru. Oh, and don't forget that you've already lost two teeth with that damned vibrator! Don't try one again! Understood?"

Hikaru nodded rhythmically, taking the little orange-haired boy alongside her. Then Madoka gave her one more threatening, alarming look before her and Hikaru's ways tore asunder.

"Okay, Yu, so, where shall we go firstly?" Hikaru asked him as soon as they remained alone wandering leisurely through Vesterbro's streets.

"Um... I don't know," he simply answered, shrugging his small shoulders, "Do they have ice-cream?

"I guess they do have ice-cream... Look! There's a bar over there!" Hikaru explained, deviating from the straight line of the sidewalk to go inside the bar which caught her eye.

"Hey, Hippety-Hop, Madoka said we shouldn't go in bars!" Yu tried to cease her from entering, "She said no bars, no tequila, no dirty stuff, and no narcissism! And no vibrators! Hippety-Hop!"

"Be serious, kid," the blue-haired teenager replied calmly, "We're not going in bars to drink tequila," she corrected her naive friend, "We'll drink just beer, 'cause we should keep the supreme pleasure for the nighttime! We don't do dirty stuff in bars, we just drink beer. And we won't be some narcissists after drinking, 'cause we won't get drunk, and we won't try vibrators because bars aren't for vibrators, they are for drinking. Now c'mon."

Yu sighed in disbelief, but followed the rebel girl with a faint enthusiasm. Both entered the bar, with Hikaru leading the expedition.

The place was filled with cigarette smoke and music was screaming inside the speakers, with many dapper men drinking different alcoholic drinks. They all seemed to wear various rings, made of gold, silver or other materials. Expensive cells everywhere on all the tables, most of them with touch screen, and masculine scents floating around in the heavy atmosphere imbued with sounds of the loud voice of those men.

"Um... Hippety-Hop, I don't really like this place," Yu shyly said, tugging Hikaru by her shirt, but she didn't notice it. Instead, she took a seat at the counter, placing her elbow there, and Yu had to follow her. He took a seat next to her, not knowing what to do. He's alone in Copenhagen if he doesn't follow Hikaru, so, basically, he's lost forever.

The bartender, who was a tall, nice, but quite fat man, came over Hikaru from the other side of the counter, to take her order, "Hej. Kan jeg hjælpe dig?"

Hikaru tilted her head to side, gaping in confusion, eyes looking perplexedly, "What? Um... I don't speak Danish..." the amethyst-eyed girl tried to explain, but the bartender didn't seem to understand.

"I don't think he speaks English either..." Yu remarked quietly, trying to make his voice heard in that huge noise inside the bar.

"Damn it!" Hikaru ejaculated, "And how will I tell him that I want a beer?"

The orange-haired boy shrugged his shoulders emptily, excusing himself, "But me? How will I tell him that I want ice-cream?"

Hikaru pondered, placing her index finger at her chin as her eyes were scanning around in the room. And something caught her eye. There was a lonely boy sitting alone at the counter, like ten chairs away from her, drinking a beer. He looked kinda weird, and had teal hair, but he looked alright in Hikaru's vision, so she walked to him, and poked him on the shoulder, "Hey, boy!"

The boy looked at her skeptically, azure meeting violet, "What?"

"You know English, right?" she asked hopefully, and Yu just stared indifferently, now at the bartender, then at Hikaru and the boy.

"Um... Yeah, so what?"

Hikaru winked cheekily to him, and took a seat on the adjacent chair, satisfaction glimmering into her eyes, "And you know Danish, too, since you've ordered a beer," she deduced, playing with her bluish hair.

"Yeah, so what?" the boy continued to question, taking a sip of his beer.

"Let's make a deal: you translate to me what the bartender says, and help me talk with him, and I buy you a beer."

The green-haired boy stared hungrily at her, and, after taking a big sip of his beer, he said, "Fine."

The girl smirked with satisfaction, and then looked around for the bartender, while talking to the boy, "Tell me how to call him in Danish."

"Tjener," the Danish speaker whispered to her, and she repeated loudly [with a worse pronouncement, of course], so the bartender was going to hear her. The guy who was serving drinks looked at her with some curious eyes, but walked over her.

"Hvordan kan jeg hjælpe dig?" he asked again, and even his Danish accent let Hikaru a little perplexed. She got closer to the teal-haired boy, and whispered questioningly:

"What did he say?"

"He asked how he can help you," the so-called translator explained while drinking.

"Tell him that I want a beer."

"_Two_ beers," he corrected with a sneaky smirk on his face, and she sighed, remembering about the deal. She threw him a bitter 'whatever' and told him to order so. "To øl," he ordered.

The bartender nodded his head rhythmically, understanding the order, and went to bring those two beers. It didn't take him too long, so in about three minutes they were there. Hikaru placed one in front of the Danish speaker boy, and opened her personal one, then began to drink, staring at the boy, "So... tell me more about yourself."

The boy kept his gaze forwards, coldly saying after drinking from his bottle, "I'm just a guy in a bar."

Hikaru shrugged as a little smile graced her lips, burying her cheek into her palm as her elbow was resting on the counter, "Well, I'm a _girl_ in a bar," she replied, too, and followed his example of drinking, "So... How comes you know Danish?"

"None of your business, sweetheart. Gotta go," he said while finally drinking up his first beer, then taking his filled bottle from the counter. He stood up with a swift movement and called the bartender to pay.

"You're not gonna... you know... tell me your name?" Hikaru played along, the smile on her lips refusing to fade away. He didn't answer, 'cause he was talking to the bartender, whom he passed a banknote, then he left without any supplementary words, hands shoved into his pockets. She chuckled lightly as returning to Yu, who was loyally sitting on a high chair at the counter.

"What are we doing now, Hippety-Hop?" Yu curiously asked, his emerald eyes studying the amused expression on Hikaru's face.

"Going exploring around," Hikaru answered, taking a sip of her beer, "Let's go. Tjener!"

"Hey, wait, what about my ice-cream?!" Yu protested sulkily, leaping from his chair, throwing her some puppy eyes.

"Whatever, we'll buy some around. Now let's go," she excused herself while handing the bartender a banknote, "Plus, we have some business with the hottie over there..." she chuckled while taking a last big sip of her beer, her right eye watching the door that boy left through.

* * *

**~9 PM, Vesterbro square**

Madoka sighed as looking down at her watch, impatiently tapping her right foot against the ground.

9:26 PM.

And Hikaru still wasn't there. Just as she expected. "Damn it," she said for herself, walking around imaginary circles for some seconds. She took her cell and dialed Hikaru's number, manicured hands moving with the speed of the light against the keypad of the light pink cell.

She gently placed the cell against her ear, trying to ignore the noise around to hear if anyone was gonna answer.

"Oh, hello?" a voice answer, but it seemed low compared to the huge noise which was heard on the background. It was disco music combined with diffuse loud male voices, especially copious laughs, and, at the edges, you could distinguish sounds of liquid pouring into glasses, of some rummy pieces making contact with the hard surface of tables.

"Yu?" Madoka guessed, trying to focus on his voice and not on the sound on both backgrounds'.

"Yes?"

"Hikaru's around?"

Yu tittered, scratching the back of his head nervously as his eyes sneakily took a glance behind his back, where there was a high black table in the middle of the bar, exactly in the centre of attention of everyone. And Hikaru, with some other girls, was dancing on that table, her small heels making echoing sounds against the shiny surface of the perfect clean table. She was holding a small glass, filled with an orangeish drink, up in air, while moving from right to left on the kinda narrow and small 'dance floor'.

"Um... Yes..." the orange-haired boy answered, saying the truth, but not knowing what words to use.

"Um... And where are you, guys? You should've been here a half an hour ago..."

"Uhm, um..."

"Hey, give me the phone, Yu," Hikaru demanded after realizing that Yu was talking with Madoka, her smile fading away a little as trying to reach for her cell.

"Um, talk with her." And he passed the cell to Hikaru, who took it and placed it next to her ear, carefully not to break the tequila glass in her other hand.

"Yeah, Madoka?" she guessed, still dancing at the right and the left while talking. She was still in a good mood, and didn't remember a thing about what she said to Madoka some hours ago, "Oh? Oh. Damn it, I forgot about _that_! Uh, can you come to... um... Wait a second. Hey, Robert! What's the name of the bartender? Just a second, Madoka. Let me ask someone."

"Jerrik!" a voice exclaimed from the background, whom Hikaru thanked to by making a small nod with her head.

"Come at Jerrik's bar. We're there..."

"Hikaru!" Madoka scolded angrily, "Haven't I told you not to go in bars? And Yu? He's with you?"

Hikaru raised up an eyebrow, mouth open, letting saliva slide down her mouth, washing her lip gloss a little, making her look just like a stupid girl, "You? You are with you, not with me..."

The brunette smacked her forehead in annoyance, replying, "Not _you_, and neither me. _Yu_!"

But Hikaru wasn't like to get it, "Yeah, _you_! _You_ are _you_ and _I_ am _me_, which means that _you_ are **not** _me_ 'cause we've got different personal numbers..." Hikaru babbled, really trying to pay attention to Madoka, 'cause she was really confused, and she wasn't joking – Hikaru didn't get what Madoka was saying.

"Damn it! I'm talking about _Yu_, _Yu_, the person!" Madoka argued exasperatedly, almost going to tachypnea because she couldn't make the other girl understand.

"Well... I am a person, right? You're talking about _you_, i.e. _me_, right?"

"Damn it! Forget! Just tell me where you are!" Madoka gasped, trying to swallow her annoyance, underlined, even so, by a huge sweat drop in the corner of her forehead, almost making her head heavier.

"Um... At Jerrik's bar..." Hikaru shyly answered, looking around to see if she was right.

"Yeah, yeah, at Jerrik's bar," Madoka yelled annoyed, "But do you have at least the smallest idea about how many bartenders called Jerrik are in Vesterbro? Ha?"

"Well, um, I don't know..."

"Tell me the street the bar is on," Madoka demanded impatiently, crossing her arms unenthusiastically.

"Um... I..."

"...don't know?"

"Yes."

"Damn it."

* * *

**~Some hours later, after Madoka finally found the right bar~**

"Let's go, Hikaru!" she yearned for the amethyst-eyed girl, "It's late! We gotta catch the ferry tomorrow and I can assure you it'll be horror if we won't have any sleep! C'mooon!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Hikaru groaned in exasperation, fumbling for her wallet to pay the drink. However, all of sudden, her face colored in a bluish shade of purple, just like her eyes, "Wait, Madoka...!"

"What?" the brunette asked in boredom, waiting for an answer.

"I've lost my wallet."

"What?"

"I've lost my wallet."

Madoka ran her fingers through her hair, desperate, heart rhythm increasing, "Tell me is not true."

"Okay, then it's not..."

"Damn it!" the blue-eyed girl ejaculated, then some curses followed. Yu watched the total drama with enthusiasm, while Hikaru was rather indifferent at everything, "Okay, calm down," she mumbled to herself, nervously looking through her purse to find her personal wallet. When she found it, she realized that it was almost empty, "Damn it. I've spent all my money for Copenhagen on museums."

"Uh, now what? We use the money for—"

"No, of course not! I guess we have to explain the bartender..."

* * *

**~At night~**

"That's awkward," Madoka murmured under her breath.

"I know," Hikaru agreed.

"I want ice-cream," Yu demanded.

So, yeah, Hikaru, Madoka, Yu, all of them with sandwich boards around their bodies, were wandering through Vesterbro, advertising the bar they had no money to pay at because, so, the bartender would let them go away.

"We should've been sleeping now," the brunette pointed out angrily, "Plus, everybody's looking at me like I'm a weirdo."

"Well, you're a sandwich man. A sandwich woman, actually. We're some sandwich people, right?"

"Damn it... I haven't come to Copenhagen to dress up like the sandwich woman!" Madoka protested, anger rushing up to her face through her veins, making it look red.

"..."

Madoka face palmed herself at the deep silence, sighing, "Anyway, after we finish the night shift, we gotta catch a good sleep, believe it or not~! Travelling by ferry is gonna be really tiring, and the trip takes like 16 hours, but I'm not sure..."

"Ehh, whatever, I never liked ferries," Hikaru remarked.

"But where are we going anyway...?" Yu shyly asked the electrified girls.

"Oh, you didn't know!" Madoka realized dumbly, "To Oslo. You're coming, too?"

Yu nodded his head rhythmically, which, once again, made Hikaru suspicious. He can't have exactly the same itinerary with them...

Ehh, but since she's the sandwich man, does it really matter?

* * *

_**A/N: Eh, chappie two finished. They're going to Norway next time XDDD**_

_**Oh, by the way, have you ever heard of the Encyclopedia Dramatica? It's hilarious, you should see some articles! And that one about this site perfectly points out all the stupidity some people show around here... *facepalms* It also has an article about Critics United, which somehow made me laugh, lol. However, that encyclopedia is kinda perverted, so be aware!**_

_**Anyway, see you next time XD**_


	3. Count Henri

_**A/N: Hey, back again XD This is just a transition chapter which I've written to see if I haven't forgotten basic stuff while I've been in pause... Contains some boring history, so I dunno if it's really exciting, ehh... At any case, the next chapter should be about Norway - this one is happening on the ferry.**_

**Chapter III:** Count Henri

Hikaru's eyes slowly fluttered in confusion as she stared at the strange book on Madoka's desk. Her violet gaze pierced through the title, written in calligraphic, black letters, contrasting against the light colored cover made of beige shagreen:

_The Forty-Five Guardsmen_

She buried her cheek into her palm, letting a small space between her fingers so the ray of light could've arrive to her eye, but continued to stare at the book, not expressing a certain state of mind.

"What's the matter, Hikaru?" her brunette friend asked as shifting her gaze from the lines of another book she was reading at that moment. Hikaru rolled in the bed, letting a prolong sigh escape from her mouth.

"I'm bored, Madoka..."

"Um, then read a book," she suggested her, letting the book she was reading on the table after setting the bookmark at the page she has been reading before Hikaru interrupted her. She took the other books on the table, placing one on top of another, and gave them to Hikaru, "Here. You can read one of my books while I'm finishing this."

Hikaru sighed once again and began looking through the titles, enumerating them on a loud voice, "_The Queen's Necklace_; _The Castle_;_ The alchemist; The Forty-Five Guardsmen volume I_;_ The Forty-Five Guardsmen volume II_; _Shogun volume I; Shogun volume II_; _Theodora, empress of Byzantine Empire; World War II..._

Hikaru made a shy grimace after reading a part of the titles, "Um... That's all?" she dared to ask, half-mouthed in embarrassment. Madoka heightened her eyes' attention from the lines of the book, saying as searching something inside the drawer:

"Oh, wait, there's one more book ... I've read it when I was in 4th grade, so you can take it."

She threw it with a swift movement at Hikaru, whom caught it, then Madoka went back reading her book. Hikaru's violet eyes studied the title:

_White Fang_

Hikaru groaned in exasperation, raising her gaze furiously against her brunette friend, "Madoka!" she protested, "Who do you think I am?"

A little smile fluttered on Madoka's lips as she was reading, "Okay, okay, I wasn't actually thinking you haven't read Wild Fang, but I wasn't sure if you would like books about Marie Antoinette or about Henry III of Valois, and that was the only thing I had which wasn't about them... or about the Giza pyramids, or about the Byzantine Empire..."

Hikaru sighed for the third time and took a quick look through the books again, "Um... What about _The Forty-Five Guardsmen_?" she asked.

"Um... I've just finished reading the second volume today. It's about Henry III of Valois, how I told you."

"_The Castle_?" Hikaru tried.

"Haven't read it yet, but it's something kinda abstract, not suitable for you, anyway."

"_The Queen's Necklace_?"

"Oh, that? That's one of Alexandre Dumas's novels about Queen Marie Antoinette," Madoka answered indifferently, turning the page of the book she was reading. "I'm going to start reading it after finishing the book I'm reading right now."

Hikaru tilted her head to side in confusion at that answer.

"And who's that?"

"Marie Antoinette? She was the queen of France, Louis XVI's wife, the king who was executed. She has been executed too, some time after Louis XVI's execution."

"Okay, okay, I get it, but why would they kill a queen by the way?"

Madoka's lips let a light sigh escape as a subtle sweat drop formed in the corner of her forehead, "Well, that's because Louis XVI was an absolute monarch, and French people hated it because he had the entire power and they had no bread. So, they had the revolution in 1789, killed Louis XVI and changed from monarchy to democracy. Marie Antoinette herself said, _if they have no bread, let them eat cake._ That's why they hated Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette."

"Um... Because they gave them cake instead of bread?"

Madoka's sweat drop grew bigger at Hikaru's stupidity, "Forget... What's the clock, anyway?"

"Um... 8 PM," Hikaru answered, checking her cell.

"Just perfect. I've got three full hours to read this wonderful book of mines. By the way, do you read anything from those? 'Cause I wanna get them back if you don't."

"Um... Here," she said, putting the books back on the table near the armchair Madoka was sitting on, excepting one – _The Forty-Five Guardsmen, volume I_, "I'll keep this. Hey, by the way, where's Yu?"

"Oh, well, I haven't seen him," she said, taking a look through the window, but, surprisingly, something stole her attention, "Hey... Who's that guy right there, talking with Yu?" she asked, pointing at a boy who was standing outside, on the balcony. Hikaru looked too, kinda confused.

"Um... I don't know... Hey, who did you say Henry III was?"

"Forget..."

"Hey, Madoka!" Yu cheered from outside, waving his hand, "Henri wants to meet you!" he said triumphantly as pointing at the guy next to him, who was a blonde, tall boy, with the face shadowed by the small hat, his dark eyes exchanging gazes with Madoka's ones.

"Henri?"

"He's my friend!" Yu added, getting inside and pulling Madoka by her hand so she was outside now. Her book fell on the ground, and you could distinguish the title written down on the old cover, yellowished by the time: _The history of Henri of Joyeuse, count of Bouchage_.

Hikaru picked up Madoka's book, and letting down her own one on the table, she placed the brunette's one near hers. She scratched the back of the head, and went outside, too. "Whatever..."

When she stepped outside, those two were just shaking their hands, and Madoka was asking: "So, your name is Henri? With –y- or with –i-?"

"Oh, with –i-," the boy answered, "The French form of 'Henry'."

"Oh, like Henri of Joyeuse, Anne of Joyeuse's little brother?" Madoka asked curiously, a vague glimmer appearing deep into her eyes.

"Yeah, just like him!" Henri answered with enthusiasm, "I'm half French, my mother is French and wanted to name me 'Henri', like this count, yeah! I also have a kinda German name, Wilhelm, because dad was German."

Madoka's evolved brain immediately made the connection between Wilhelm and an historical character, "Like Wilhelm of Nassau, the one who is cheered in Netherlands's anthem?"

"Yeah, like him!"

Hikaru scratched the back of her head lazily, confused about so much history, since she has been a sandwich girl last night, and since she kinda dislikes the fact that Madoka is the fangirl of some guys who lived 500 years ago.

"Hey," she saluted, sunk deep into confusion, "How are things going... Henri?" she dared to ask, half-mouthed, trying to fake a small smile, "Like Henri of..." she stopped a second, because she wasn't sure how Joyeuse is pronounced since it is a French name, "Um... Whatever. Like some earl thingy called Henri. I also heard of a count A-n-n-i-b-a-l of C-o-c-o-n-n-a-s (she spelled it letter by letter because she didn't know to pronounce it), but I wasn't sure how to pronounce it, and his name reminds me about coconuts, but I hate coconuts, so I haven't finished the book..."

Henri wanted to answer, but has been cut off by Madoka's yell: "WHAT? YOU'VE READ 'La Reine Margot'?

The blonde guy smiled to Hikaru, paying no attention to Madoka, "Yeah, it is an amazing book, I have to admit. Just the way Saint Bartholomew's Night is described, everything being combined with the agitation of that era, is impressive. Catherine de'Medicis also has a nice indirect portrait, despite the fact that the book is in fact a simple one. All those romances, like that between Henry of Navarra and lady of Sauve (romance which was blurry: either Catherine forced lady of Sauve into loving her son-in-law because she wanted to kill him due to his protestant religion, either Charlotte was really in love with Henry, because she helped him and his wife, Margaret of Valois, to deny the fact that Henry was cheating on his wife with lady of Sauve, which is the opposite of what the mother-queen wanted; however, Margaret wanted to be the queen of France), make the transition between the historical events, offering the reader a pause between different plots. So, you wanted to say count Annibal of Coconnas, one of the characters," he explained in that weird accent of his, mainly French, but you could distinguish a small shadow of Germanic in his speech.

"Henriette's lover, right? I've read the book a long time ago so I'm not sure..."

"I can assure you that your memory is still good. Right, he is duchess of Nevers's lover, and, additionally, I have to mention that he is La Mole's best friend, even if La Mole was Huguenot and he was catholic, and even they were about to kill each other twice, on Saint Bartholomew's Night, and when Charles IX went to see Coligny's dead body. What is curious is that Henriette and Margaret were best friends, just like their lovers, Coconnas and La Mole."

Hikaru stared emptily at the boy who looked like a machine who knew everything, while she was in blank – she has forgotten almost everything in that book, and hasn't even read the whole book, just the first volume and a half of the second. Madoka was dying because of jealousy, because she never actually has read 'La Reine Margot'.

"Um... Yeah... I think so... um... once again, Henri?"

"Oh, yeah, Henri," the blonde guy answered, shaking hands with the blue-haired girl. Those two exchanged an incandescent gaze, hers filled with perplexity, his filled with satisfaction, accompanied by a subtle smirk placed at the corner of his mouth.

"Um... Excuse me," Madoka interrupted them, "If you don't mind, I'd prefer talking about something different rather than reminding everyone how many innocent people died because of the religious wars."

"Oh, nice detail, Madoka, so you wanna talk about 1784's winter in France, under Marie Antoinette? Okay, then... like 300,000 people are dying of hunger in Paris..."

"Um... Excuse me," Hikaru murmured, "I gotta go for a minute."

"No problem," Henri amiably said, "...miss...?"

"Hikaru," she completed him with a smile on her lips, bowing her head before disappearing into the semidarkness.


	4. Lost?

**Chapter IV: **Lost?

"Ahhh, damn it!" Madoka yelled madly as her feet were swiftly stepping on the clean sidewalks.

"Oh, c'mon," Hikaru replied discouraged, trying to keep up the pace with Madoka, "You won't find a book about French history here, in the middle of Norway. Especially that book in English. But I can tell you some stuff about it... For example, Margaret of Valois had another lover before La Mole, and it was named Henry, too... Eh, too many of Henry... I'm confused already. Every boy in France was named Henry, Henri or whatever?"

"Ahh, I have to find it! Henri is in the same hotel with us, no, is in the same apartment with us! Don't you remember? We set that after we explore around we'll pay together: I, you, Yu and him for a big hotel room, because it would be cheaper than paying for different rooms!"

"So what? I bet you can read a better book than _La Reine Margot_." Then a small smirk occupied the corner of her mouth, "Also, I can tell you a little secret about your dear Henri..."

Madoka slowed down the pace, watching Hikaru over her shoulder, "Yes?"

"He's reading _Le Rouge et le Noir_, by some guy named Stendhal. I've seen the book inside his bag when we've let our backpacks at that guy who said will keep them for some hours; it's a big white book, a really long one, I presume. If you'd manage to steal the book while he's not watching and read it before him, he would listen to anything you'd tell him since I guess he's mad about books. He hasn't read much of it yet – almost a quarter."

The brunette stopped in the middle of the street, darting Hikaru with an empty gaze. "_Le Rouge et le Noir_ you say?"

Hikaru nodded her head, catching her breath. "Yes. Oui, how Henri would say."

"Doesn't the title sound nice to you: _Le Rouge et le Noir_?" she asked dryly, biting her bottom lip.

"Well... Yes, a little... But since Henri's reading it, I guess is the best book ever released and just smart people can read it... Right?" Hikaru shyly asked, retreating a little.

"YES, IT IS, BUT IT'S FRENCH, DAMN IT!"

"?"

Madoka sighed exasperatedly, "I know the book. It's actually called _The Red and the Black_. 'Rouge' means 'red' and 'noir' means 'black' in French... But I don't know French that well to read such a deep and hard book like _The Red and the Black_, while Henri is born in France, thus he reads books directly in French, not in English! He speaks English just because we don't know French! But Stendhal was French, Hikaru!"

"Oh... But you can still read it and understand the basics, right?"

"Yeah, but Henri's probably not interested in what actually happens, instead he tries to understand the entire philosophy Stendhal makes! Julien Sorel has some weird manifestations, he's a complicated character! I've read a little of the book when I was at home... It's complicated to understand Julien... How am I supposed to understand him in another language?"

"Oh... Oh! I didn't think about this..."

"By the way, why did you leave last night?" Madoka asked as both girls began walking again; the brunette seemed now to calm down.

"My phone rang. That was all."

"Oh, whatever. Where's Yu anyway?" the blue-eyed girl continued the line of her vehement questions.

"He's somewhere with Henri, I don't know for sure... But I'm not gonna spend my whole day searching this big city for a damn book just because you want to impress a guy... And, by the way, the only thing he'll ever like/love is himself." Then, she whispered into her friend's ear, "I know someone like that... Smart people are narcissists... Actually, they don't like their body, but their brain..."

Madoka gave her an incandescent look, "So you think I'm narcissist? About my brain? And isn't it called pedantry?"

"Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no. Non, how Henri would say. Of course not."

"Whatever..."

Suddenly, Hikaru's cell rang. She opened her bag and took it. "Oh... It's Yu."

Madoka startled, "Yu?" she asked with enthusiasm, "Give me the phone." And she snatched it from Hikaru's hands, quickly buttoning her pink shirt which has been kept unbuttoned since then. "Yes?"

"Ah, Madoka, hello," she heard Yu's childish voice answering, "Hey, haven't I called Hippety-Hop by the way? You've stolen her phone?!"

Madoka sighed, "No. Just answered instead of her. You wanna talk to her?"

"Yep."

"Okay."

She passed the phone to Hikaru, who took it and approached it to her ear, "Yes? It's Hikaru."

"Oh, hey! Henri and I are planning on meeting up with you two. What do you say about meeting in front of that big restaurant where they make sweets, in the center, named M*** and maybe having a sweet, who knows... Ha? Doesn't it sound great?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Hikaru supported the idea with enthusiasm, "Sure, Madoka and I will be there in the shortest time, and don't worry; Henry III won't be with us. Not even Francis II. See you soon!"

"Ha?!" Madoka hummed after Hikaru snatched her by the wrist and began to pull her in the direction she was walking. "Who told you about Francis II?"

"Henri!"

**~At the meeting**

"Heeey, Hippety-Hop, Madoka," Yu shouted at the two girl who were approximately 50 meters far away from him. They saw the boys and ran towards them – Hikaru was still holding Madoka's hand.

"Oh, hey, guys!" Hikaru saluted after stopping in front of them, "What's up?"

"Nothing special, Hippety-Hop. Now shall we go eat sweets?"

"Sure!" Hikaru approved, feeling excited; she walked to the door, and wanted to open it, but it didn't work. "What the...? Is this broken?"

Madoka had to clarify the situation through a long sigh, "It's not open, guys... Can't you see the sign? It's closed. We should find another place to eat..."

"_Quaere et invenies _**[1]**," Henri muttered almost indistinguishably, like talking to himself; the only one who heard him was Madoka, who was, actually, focusing on him, not on Yu or Hikaru. She knew a bit of Latin at that time, but just much later she managed to learn it better. Henri using Latin was actually not surprisingly since Latin is a language for smart people, they say. It fits him, right? At any case, she didn't say a word, and the Frenchman didn't even notice that she saw his little 'speech'.

And, if we didn't have time to sketch the portrait of this mysterious character – and we apologize to our readers for this, and also, for introducing him; he probably annoys many of our loyal readers [I can say that, as a reader, I kinda dislike OCs, ehh, so I rarely introduce some, but I needed Henri to make some certain things happen; you'll discover later...] who manage to swallow our crappy story – and all the reader knows about him is that he is very intelligent and has blonde hair, we'll use this unique occasion to do it now.

So, physically, Henri is a handsome young man with blonde (somehow curly, but more like wavy) hair which shadows some big black eyes that, even if they almost always show no emotion or feeling, they always let sparkling gazes escape which could piece you through your entire person. His pale skin is sensitive to sun, that's one of the reasons he likes Northern countries like Norway. He doesn't wear glasses, even if he has studied much along the most of the 19 years of his life. He is somehow tall, but girls don't chase him around. His small nose and his attached earlobes are family characteristics, and his entire aristocratic look comes from the fact that he is half French, raised in France, how I've mentioned before.

His personality would give the readers too many boring details, so it is better for us not to illustrate it in words, but instead let the reader discover it as the story progresses.

Now we can continue our little story.

So, after our little heroes found out that that place is closed, they began to wander once again through that huge city.

"Hey," Madoka began to speak, shattering a long silence, "Did you guys know that Norway is still ruled by a king?" And she secretly peeked at the Frenchman who was silently walking behind Yu.

"Really?" Hikaru asked curiously, "I didn't know... Oh, look, there's a place where they make sweets! Like... a restaurant for sweets! Let's go!" She led her friends towards the building she just talked about.

"Weee!" Yu hummed excitedly, following his blue-haired friend. Then it came Madoka, and Henri at the end. Yu chose a table, near the glass through which he could see a variety of cakes, sweets, cookies, etc. etc.

When Hikaru wanted to pull her chair, Henri said, touching and pulling the chair before she could reach for it, "Let me help, _mademoiselle_ **[2]**."

"Oh! Thank you, you're so sweet, Henri," Hikaru said friendly, with absolutely no shade of _romantic feeling_ in her voice. It was just a sincere and innocent 'thank you', and she knew that everything was just _pure friendship_; she didn't even think another way. They say French people are extremely polite and gallant, right? For her, and also for Henri, it was something normal, but for jealous eyes, it wasn't really like this...

Madoka stared confusedly at those two, 'He pulled her chair and mine not?' She was ready to let fury overflow her, until, 'Oh, wait... I was already sitting down when he wanted to pull her chair and eventually pull mine... Eh... I'm so stupid.'

She sighed, then the waiter came to take the orders. That's when she used the chance to ask Henri, "Hey, Henri, let me ask you... do you like éclairs?"

Henri gazed at her with a smile occupying his lips, "No, mademoiselle, but thank you for your question. The only sweet I can eat is chocolate cake; actually, I really enjoy chocolate, especially Swiss one. If you allow me, I'd like to ask: what about you, mademoiselle?"

Madoka felt complimented when Henri called her 'mademoiselle', with the most clean French accent; well, we have to mention that Henri makes also a great German speaker, because he has lived in Germany for many years, so let's say he can also speak a clean German, and also seem a German guy, not letting his French accent be seen, and rather adopting a German one when speaking other languages; however, we'll call him a 'Frenchman' since French is his first language, and since he seems to like it better. At any case, he would look like an original German [or, at least, Austrian] citizen if his personality wouldn't betray his French origins.

Now, we also have to mention that Madoka likes much more being called 'mademoiselle' than 'miss'. That's just because 'mademoiselle' is composed by 'ma' which means 'my' and 'demoiselle' which means 'miss'. It's like... _my miss_, and that possessive adjective makes the piece of the cookie ['cause saying 'cake' would be too monotone].

At any case, that cake she was eating tasted _sweeter_ for her that afternoon. Her blue eyes were concerned on him as she was eating her cake, watching every movement of his.

"Well, I... Um... Not really... They are too... um... nauseating and also have no taste," she replied and began to eat from the sweet she just ordered.

**~Later**

Like one hour later, those were leaving and going to take their bags; after that, they found a hotel. They paid together for a single room, because, as Madoka said, it would come cheaper for everyone. It was actually an apartment with 2 rooms, bathroom and balcony. Henri and Yu were going to sleep in the first room, and the girls in the second room.

The problem was that the hotel was very big, and very busy, so they hardly found an apartment. Actually, its number was 724 and was at the seventh floor... So they had a little business to go down... even with the elevator.

So, they let their bags there, locked the room and wanted to go down, but they didn't find the elevator back again. And... it wasn't really nice. After many minutes of wandering through the halls...

"Okay, guys," Madoka huffed, wiping away some sweat from her forehead as her lungs were struggling to find air, "We'll tore asunder, people, so we have more chances to find the way to the elevator... or to the stairs, doesn't matter which one of them. Okay, so I'm going with..."

"Pick me, pick me, pick me, pick meeeeeee, please!" Yu begged with one raised fist, kneeling on the floor, "Please, Madoka, don't send me with Hippety-Hop; she smells weird!"

"Whaaaaat?" Hikaru protested angrily, "I don't smell weird, I wash myself everyday!"

"It's okay, mademoiselle," Henri interrupted, addressing to Hikaru, "You, mademoiselle, you can come with me, and Yu and can go with demoiselle Amano."

"Whaat, I? I! I?" Madoka muttered, shocked.

"Okay, then we understood the plan," Hikaru agreed with a sigh, ignoring Madoka's protests, "I and Henri will go to the right, Madoka and Yu will go to the left. Whoever finds the elevator or the stairs or anything helpful calls the other group and we meet here, okay? Look..."

She revealed a blue marker from her bag and drew an slight X on the wall, "Right here, kay? We don't have the whole day. Let's proceed."

So, the group torn apart, in the way I've mentioned above.

"Okay, so, where should we start from, Henri? By the way, has anyone ever called you nicknames? Your mother, perhaps?"

Henri didn't answer, but instead changed the theme of the conversation a little, as both were walking to nowhere on the halls of the hotel, "But you, mademoiselle?" he asked with a tired smile appearing ephemerally on his thin lips.

Hikaru smirked for herself; she was walking the first and Henri was following her. "Well, _tademoiselle_ **[3]** is called anything you want... Hippety-Hop is the newest... oh, among mademoiselle."

So, as they were idly passing through the empty hall, stepping on violet carpets, it happened for Hikaru to stop her journey a little and turn around to her 'friend', wanting to tell him something. But she didn't notice that near her, on the wall, there was some kind of trapdoor for the laundry. So, when she wanted to rest her hand on the wall, she accidentally opened it and fell through a long pipe, designed for laundry.

She landed in a huge basket with white blankets and tablecloths. "Ah, s**t..." she mumbled for herself, still dizzy from the sudden fall [which made her bones crack a little], staring into the white ceiling of the laundry room. Soon, she found a weight on top of her own, before she could even sit up.

"Henri!"

"Oui, mademoiselle..." Henri mumbled apathetically, staring into mademoiselle's eyes with the same coldness. He was slowly blinking, but didn't get away from Hikaru. "Yes, _par malheur_ **[4]**, mademoiselle, I think we are a little lost... There's no one in the laundry at the moment... I think they are... um... in lunch break."

When Henri finally got away from her, and when Hikaru saw herself freed, they both jumped down from that laundry basket; because it was kinda high, Henri found his feet on the floor the first, then he also helped his demoiselle get down.

"So..." Hikaru mumbled shyly, "What now?"

"Well... _Excusez moi_ **[5]**, mademoiselle, but... _Je ne sais pas_ **[6]**..."

"Ahh, damn it! Do something, _monsieur_ **[7]**! Wait, wait, wait! I haven't pulled you with myself when I fell through that thingy! You've just let yourself fall after you saw that I've fallen! And now what? You could've saved both of us if you would've remained there, stupid! Ah, ah, these gentlemen, stupid Frenchmen...!"

"Oh, mademoiselle, this remark deeply hurts me... How could've I let such a demoiselle alone in a place like this?"

The girl sighed very, very deeply, letting out a sigh even deeper than Henri's hurt at that remark. She peered around – it was a very big room with walls painted in white, and, of course, washing machines everywhere. Among them, you could've notice wringers, clothes dryers, sewing machines, laundry tubs, etc.

"Let's just... Ah... call Madoka," she suggested, not exactly knowing what to do.

She took her cell, but afterwards she realized that she has no signal because she was in the basement, so underground, which means no signal, "Ahhh, damn it, it's just like in the middle school! The gym was at the basement, so we had no phone signal! Now what?"

"Well, I guess we should just wait until someone returns from the lunch, mademoiselle..."

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Hikaru exclaimed ironically, "Let's just wait and then what? We don't know a pinch of Norwegian to tell them that we can't find an elevator! An elevator, damn it! Or some stairs, at least..."

"Well, mademoiselle, maybe you can allow me to try to speak to them? They should know English, even if they're just some servants, but if they don't, then I can try talking to them in French, German or Italian, or I can try a bit of Danish. I'm afraid they don't know Russian or Latin, though."

Hikaru stared at him blankly, "You mean you can speak French, German, Italian, Danish, Russian and Latin?"

"Oui, mademoiselle; I also used know some Spanish, but that language, mademoiselle... well, shame on me, I don't speak it that well, but, still, I'm trying."

"Okay, but, firstly, let's at least try to get out of here."

"If you want this, then that's fine, mademoiselle. _Je suis là_ **[8]**."

**~Meanwhile**

"Hey, Yu, do you think they found something?" Madoka asked her little friend.

"Ehh, no, nope, but I start to like this place, you know... Look, that's like a waterslide!" Yu suddenly exclaimed as pointing towards a pipe like that Hikaru and Henri fell through some time ago, "Can we try it, please?"

"No, Yu! It's for laundry, don't you know? Down, in there, there's a big basket with tablecloths and other stuff and there's the laundry room, where they wash them," Madoka explained, "Actually, there are many traps of these, for laundry, which means that they have much laundry, so we shouldn't disturb, kay?"

"Kay..." Yu mumbled with disappointment, pouting like a little child.

"Okay, let's try this hall... We've tried the middle one, the left one, there's the right one remaining. Eh, whatever... C'mon, let's go."

* * *

**[1]** Search and you'll find (Latin)

**[2]** Miss (French)

**[3]** This is some kind of irony; 'ta' means 'your', so, instead of 'my miss' it would come 'your miss' (French)

**[4]** Sadly (French)

**[5] **Excuse me (French)

**[6] **I don't know (French)

**[7]** Sir/mister (French)

**[8]** I'm here (French)

_**A/N: Hello again... Sorry for the long absence... again. At any case, I'm thinking about splitting this into 2 parts because then, it would seem to long and no one would read it. So, see you later. I'm planning on adding some weird action in the next chappy, but don't expect clichés XDD I hate clichés. Au revoir, mes amis!**_


	5. Poker Face?

**Chapter V: **Poker Face?

**~Later**

"Yes, yes, yes!" Madoka yelled happily, jumping around, "I've finally found it! Let's call Hikaru and get out of here 'cause we've gotta visit this city today!"

"Oh, really?" Yu mumbled in disappointment, letting a prolong sigh escape, "I wanted to try the slide..."

* * *

"C'mon, Henri!" Hikaru begged like a little child, "Please, I'm sure it'll be fun... Maybe I remember a few of them... At any case, you were right, we can't escape... I'm so boreeed..."

Henri sighed for one last time and said, forcing a smile on his lips, "Okay, okay, mademoiselle, that's fine. I'll start with the Carolingians then and tell you every single monarch which ever ruled in France, Kingdom of France, Empire of France, July Monarchy, Frankish stuff and the others. It this fine? But wouldn't you prefer me starting with the House of Capet? They have easier names, mademoiselle, like Henry, Charles, Philip, Louis, not like Chlotar or Clovis..."

"No, no! Start with the first guy ever ruling France!"

"That's fine, too, eh. So..."

* * *

"Whaaat? Why doesn't it work to call them?" Madoka protested to her cell phone which refused to dial Hikaru's number successfully. She pressed all the keys on the keypad desperately, but nothing made it work dialing the number. "DAMN IT! AND SHE'S WITH HENRI! Did she put off her phone specially to annoy me?"

"Can we try that slide now, Madoka?" Yu by-the-wayed with boredom, sitting down on the floor and burying his cheek onto his palm.

"No!"

"Uhhh, whatever! Henri's my friend, did you know it? MINE! I don't care how smart he is... But he's smarter than you and he is my friend! He ignores you because you're not smart enough to memorize all the stuff he knows..."

Madoka put her arms akimbo in protest. "So Hikaru IS smart enough to memorize that stuff?"

"Well, I don't know," Yu answered with a shrug from his shoulders, "But at least she doesn't try to memorize them... She doesn't even care about them, so she doesn't seem... like a loser in his eyes... And she smells weird..."

Deep into anger, Madoka snatched Yu's ear and pulled him aside, making him follow her, "You come with me, you nasty boy! We're looking around for Hikaru this second onwards, got it?"

* * *

Hikaru laughed as watching Henri enumerating the monarchs, apparently with no mistake, but she didn't know any of those so she couldn't say if he was wrong or not. But, while Henri was just mentioning Robert II to the list, a strange sound interrupted both of them – her, from laughing, and him, from refreshing his amazing memory. It was like a moan, a kinda loud one, coming from one of the washing machines.

"Did you hear that?" Hikaru asked, looking around too see if anyone was there.

"Ahhh, the f**k," the same voice moaned again, intensifying.

Hikaru widened her eyes in confusion and walked to the place the voice was coming from. "Hello? Is anyone there?" she shyly asked, looking behind the washing machine the sound was coming from.

"Yup, yup, it's me in here! Just help me get out!" the voice answered tiredly; Hikaru was right, it was coming from the behind of a washing machine.

"Whoa! Henri, Henri, help me! There's a man of the streets in here!" Hikaru screamed as panic overwhelmed her for no apparent reason. She ran away and hid in the big basket of tablecloths, covering herself partially. "I hate homeless people since I was six and one of them gave me a spinach gummy bear! They have an entire army, and they wanna rule the world!"

She covered herself with even more tablecloths, body trembling, letting Henri alone with the so-called man of the streets.

But what we need to know is that Hikaru discovered something interesting while hiding. She found a small golden pendant, round-shaped, with two letters engraved, separated by a "&" sign – H and M.

She raised an eyebrow. "H and M?" Then she paused for a little to think. "Ohhh! I get it! It's Henri's... He probably lost it when falling. H stands for Henri, but M? Wait... Henri's got a girlfriend? Oh, poor Madoka... But at least their names start with the same letter..."

On the verso there was engraved a tulip.

And, suddenly, the fear of men of the streets disappeared. She got up, and yelled to Henri, "Hey! Monsieur!"

Henri turned around and looked at her; then his gaze dropped on the pendant in her hand, and, in the little time he remained speechless, his face turned from white to red, then from red to yellow, and afterwards from yellow back to milky white, which made him look almost like a ghost.

He took some slow and heavy steps towards her, staring straightly into the pendant, and yelled back, "Mademoiselle! In the name of God, that's mine! Please give it back to its true owner!"

"Nah, not so easy," Hikaru said with an evil smirk occupying her lips, "Tell me what M stands for."

"Ah." He paused. "I can't. But... If you give it back, I can tell you about the Wars of the Roses! Please, mademoiselle, that's... really precious to me. Can you understand that?"

"Hm... Wars of the Roses you say...? What kind of roses?"

"Red and white, mademoiselle."

"Red and white...?"

* * *

"Just be careful what you wish, nasty boy! You could actually obtain it one day, you know..."

And the speaker, in which the reader probably recognized Madoka, threw the 'nasty boy', which is Yu, to the same slide he once wanted to try. The little boy let a short scream escape his lips before he landed into the laundry room.

While Madoka continued searching for her friends, Yu found something really interesting in the laundry room, exactly what Madoka wanted to find; okay, maybe a little more.

Since all the 'slides' go exactly to the same basket, Yu arrived in the same place as his friends... and his friends' friend, if you know what I mean.

"Oh, hello, guys!" Yu saluted with a smile on his lips, "What's up? And... Who's this guy...?" he continued, looking straightly at someone, a boy, who was staying next to Hikaru. [The same boy with the one who was behind the washing machine.]

She laughed.

"This guy? Oh, I... I love this guy!" Hikaru said between her ragged laughs, "This guy," she continued, "this guy has been in here for five days! FIVE DAYS! Can you imagine?"

She paused a little so she could laugh even more, "And... The servants came here 4 times but didn't see him because he was sleeping behind a washing machine! Can you imagine, I repeat? And he had a lot of donuts which he was carrying with him."

"Oh," Yu mumbled, not knowing what to say, "And... what's his name...?"

Hikaru startled, "Um... Well..." She turned to the boy with those donuts, and whispered, "What did you say your name is?"

"Gingka."

Hikaru shifted her gaze at Yu, "Gingka. See? Yu, Gingka. Gingka, Yu." Then she carefully patted Gingka's head, "He's won 50 eating contests till now! This guy is terrifying, look at him!"

"Oh... That's great... And... what are you doing...?"

"As you can see, I and Gingka are playing cards and eating donuts. Henri managed to enumerate all of the French monarchs since Carolingians, and then told us about Wars of the Roses, and now he was just telling us... umm... nothing. Ah! Gingka, HOW THE HECK CAN YOU ALWAYS HAVE SO MUCH LUCK? I'll f*ck this damn card!"

"Oh... Oh! Can I join?" Yu asked shyly, and both Hikaru and Gingka stared at him stupidly.

"Join?"

"I'm mean playing. If it's not strip poker, then I'm in..."

That's when Hikaru's brain started to work properly; she clapped her hands in excitement, "That's it! Strip poker! Yu, you are a genius! Oh, yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes! Let's play, c'mon!" she exclaimed with enthusiasm, taking all the cards and putting them back in the deck.

"Uh, I dunno if it's a good idea, Hikaru," Gingka opposed timidly.

"Of course it is! If Henri joins, too..."

At hearing his name called, Henri, who was reading some sonnets by Shakespeare from a tiny book he accidentally found in his pocket, slowly looked up at the others. "What?"

"Strip poker. I, Gingka and you. Now."

"Um, mademoiselle, I prefer not playing indecent games..."

"C'mon! If you won't play, I'll tell everyone about your secret girlfriend, whose name starts with M. I remember you didn't want this..."

"Eh, that's fine, too, mademoiselle. We should give it a try, right?" After this, he forced a smile, throwing the book of sonnets at Yu, "Please keep this while I'm playing, _mon ami _**[1]**."

And after this, he also loosened the tie he was wearing around his neck.

* * *

So, meanwhile these things above were happening, Madoka was trying to find, how I've mentioned, Hikaru. She firstly went to the reception to see if perhaps they were there, then she asked people around, and other stuff, but it would be too boring to describe everything. So, we'll just say that she did many things to find those, but, of course, she failed.

So, she thought about the poor Yu she threw to the laundry room and started to feel sorry for what she did. Since she hadn't seen Yu around since that event, she started to worry. What if he got really hurt while falling? What if the workers took the basket away for some unknown reason and he landed on the hard floor of the basement? Maybe he broke a bone! But those women working there didn't see him? But what if they were in lunch break?

And with all these suppositions in her head, she went back to the place she threw him and carefully tried to get down without actually hurting herself.

When landing in the basket of tablecloths, she let a moan escape from her chest, but it was soon dominated by loud laughs and sometimes by sounds expressing anger.

She timidly raised her head to see what was going on.

But the situation wasn't that bad. Hikaru had to take off her jacket, her T-shirt, her pants, so, basically, everything until her underwear, while Gingka would look like being the luckiest one, with just his jacket and T-shirt off, if Henri wouldn't have been there; so, the game was actually won by the Frenchman, because all his clothes were still untouched. So, to synthesize, Hikaru lost almost all rounds, Gingka won a few, while Henri won most of them.

Madoka let out a short scream at seeing Hikaru 'so' naked, immediately jumping off the basket and yelled at her to dress back.

"Oh, hello, Madoka. How are things going?" Hikaru asked sweetly, not even noticing how angry her friend was.

"Ahh, I'm sorry for her behavior, Henri, she always forgets how to behave," the brunette tried to repair the situation, pushing Hikaru aside, and picking up her clothes. The named boy just smiled and assured her that it's no big deal and that it was his pleasure.

And here it comes when she noticed monsieur Gingka. At seeing his weird appearance, she asked Hikaru into her ear, "Who's this guy?"

Hikaru laughed copiously at hearing the question. "Oh, you don't wanna know, believe me. At any case, did you know that Henri played Russian roulette, once, alone? I mean, he was just staying in a dark room and pointing the gun at his temple!"

"Played what?! Oh, but didn't he die?"

"As far as I can see, nope. He told us this when Gingka asked him if he ever had a gun."

"Ahh, this guy is crazy! What if his intelligence was going to be lost? Did he want to commit suicide?"

"He didn't tell me, but I don't think so. Maybe he wanted just adrenaline. So what? I'd also play if I'd have a revolver... And if I'd die... Well, at that moment, you'd take all my money, AND my bed, and maybe Henri would tell you about the Wars of the Roses, who knows... At any case, I wanna be dressed in red at my funerals."

"Hikaru!"

"Okay, okay, whatever..."

Then the door abruptly opened, revealing the women working there. When they saw the teenagers and Yu, especially Gingka who was still half-naked, they didn't dare to go past the threshold, but waited for everyone to get out, staring stupidly at them all.

"Uh, finally!" Gingka mumbled in relief, "I've been waiting in here for five days AND also played strip poker and almost lost. So, time to get home."

"Right..." Hikaru approved. "Hey, don't you wanna come with us?" she asked Gingka then, "Where are you planning to go?"

"I don't even know... But coming with you would be fun, since I feel a little lonely traveling on my own."

"Oh... But it's not just me, Yu and Henri. There's also Madoka. We're some kind of big group, ehh..."

Hikaru, now completely dressed back, pulled Madoka to her side, grinning, "She's Madoka, see? A normal girl, just a normal girl who knows a lot of stuff, although, and she really likes smart guys who... you know... can tell people a lot of stuff... especially about... um... um... I dunno know, but they have to know a lot of stuff."

Gingka stared naively, "Ummm... Stuff?"

"Yes."

"Leeet's gooooo, Hikaaaru," Madoka yelled lazily, trying to free herself from her friend's grip.

"Uh," Gingka answered, "The problem is that... I don't have any money for the hotel anymore. I paid for three days, but I've spent them here in the laundry room, plus the other two days... I'll be lucky if I'd still find my things in my hotel room."

* * *

"Ahhhh, why did you tell him to stay here with us?" Madoka protested angrily, covering her ears with her palms so she could read, "He's snoring terribly!"

Hikaru shrugged her shoulders, keeping in her hands a book she found in Madoka's drawer and focusing on the lines of that book even if she apparently didn't understand a thing, "Gingka was in trouble, you know... We have to help people in trouble. But, ah, c'mon, he is sleeping in boys' room. He must be tired after five days of crappy sleep behind a washing machine... The vibrations of the machine must have been awful."

"Strip poker, too," the brunette pointed maliciously.

"Madoka!"

"Okay, okay, whatever. But, you know, this book you gave me (I actually took it by myself) is really awesome. You know, this guy in this book is really, really like Henri, excepting that he is black-haired while Henri is blonde... Well, I must admit, I haven't understood much about those... intrigues."

Madoka sighed, face-palming herself. "Yeah, that's because you're actually reading the second volume without reading the first one, genius..."

Hikaru's eyes went bigger in confusion. She looked at the first page to check. "Oh... You're right... I haven't noticed. Ehehehe. But the book is still funny."

"Yeah, yeah, right... I have to admit that Louis XVIII looks really funny in portraits... Marie Touchet, too. Basically, everyone in history looks funny in portraits. But Henry III of France looks kinda handsome in them. Queen Christina of Sweden, too."

"Queen Christina looks handsome?"

"Maybe... How do you find out if someone is handsome or not?

"Well," Hikaru answered silently, "I don't know... Perhaps... could you read her... um... _poker face_?"

"What...?"

And Hikaru burst into laughing, shaking her head. "Nothing."

"Ahhh, I'll get mad one day with this poker thingy."

"Ah, c'mon, c'mon, dear Madoka... It cannot be _that_ bad after all... Now, c'mon, we should go to sleep. It's late and I think the boys are already in bed."

_**A/N: Hello, friends. Sorry for taking so long to update... again. I've been just very lazy these days... Eh... At any case, see you later with... um... I don't even know. I guess Sweden. [Ehh, there might be spelling mistakes in this chapter, sorry for that]**_

**[1] **mon ami = my friend (French)


	6. The Secret of the Funny Named Girl

**Chapter VI: **The Secret of the Funny Named Girl

**~Hikaru's POV~**

_"Ich weiß nicht."_

_"Tell me, I said, why did you join that 'tournament' if you knew Russian roulette 'tournaments' are forbidden? Did you know those guys were wearing guns illegally? "_

_"Nein."_

_"I'll repeat the question once again. Did you know that playing Russian roulette with illegal guns is forbidden?"_

_"Nein."_

_"Inacceptable! How can a German brother of us do such embarrassing things? Part of the nation chosen by God to be the most prodigious! How could you not know that Russian roulette is completely wrong?! Ah, but I've never thought the son of our good brother Franz would do such things!"_

_"I haven't done anything, monsieur. And, please, stop with the Nazi insinuations, and don't forget that Germany's first stanzas of the national anthem are not sung today, and that the nation said to be chosen by God is currently living in Israel. And, also, I don't think this problem implies my father. The guns weren't mine, and those boys forced me into playing it. That's all."_

_"You must've run away!"_

_"Oh, yeah, sure... And what about her?"_

_"Well, this shouldn't have been your problem at all. And, by the way, who the heck is she, if you protect her so blindly? Your sister?"_

_"Eh... I'd wish it. I don't even understand why you, monsieur, are so angry. This begins to get pathetic. Just don't consider me a 'German brother of yours', and apply the correct punishment of the law. But, I'll repeat, it's not my fault that the Swedish police is not as strict as the German one. We're not in Germany here, especially not in the Nazi Germany. If I want my brains blown out of my head, it's none of police's business."_

_"Well, you're right, but what if those guys were __really __selling hashish?"_

_"Well, that's none of my business. All I know is that I and demoiselle Hasama have been forced into playing Russian roulette by them. We haven't consumed hashish, or other drugs."_

_"Eh, whatever. But wait... I don't think your parents would let you wander through countries like this, wearing crappy shirts and cheap neckties... They don't know what the true reason you're here for is, right? You told them you're studying, right? In Belgium, am I right?"_

_"Don't you dare tell them...!"_

_"Ah, c'mon, my dear. Why would you run after the skirt of a servant? You, so rich, so intelligent, so charming, the one they say to be the descendent of prestigious families of counts, maybe of dukes... Why would you do this? For a servant? She wasn't even beautiful; her left eye was completely covered by cataract, and her name was ugly, too."_

_"Remember _Der Abendstern_?"_

_"That damn endless love poem again. You never get enough of it."_

_"That's because, as you said, mon cher, it's endless."_

_"It's not endless; it has just very many verses. I don't think it's even studied in schools by us, Germans. By the way... C'mon, dear... Let's go back in our beloved country; let's hear again our sweet language, let's meet our dear nation... Come on... I'm sure your parents are waiting for you more than that bitch is."_

_"So that was your point from the beginning. Making me come back to Germany. Well, you should know that I'm not coming. At least not until I don't find her."_

_"And you'll see that you're going back without her! She's gone – she may be even in Congo for now. We're taking the next flight to Berlin tomorrow, my dear."_

_"My answer is still no. If I'll search, then I'll find."_

Okay, okay, before you get really confused, just let me tell you everything from the beginning, and then we can continue with the passage above.

So, skipping the voyage and the boring things we've done in Sweden [as you probably guessed, Madoka told us about Gustav Adolf and Queen Christina and Thirty Years' War, and other stuff, but that doesn't matter; we already knew it because she always repeats the same history – we're really smart right now, believe us!], I can say that I and Henri somehow got in prison, [Funny, ha? It happened while Madoka was sleeping; and, did you know that 'h' is mute is French? Now I don't know how to pronounce his name...], because of... um... I don't even know.

Ahh, but let me explain you what actually happened. So, it was night, deep night, and everyone was asleep in the hotel room [Gingka, too, yup]. However, I suddenly started to shiver, feeling really cold at my feet, and woke up. Everyone was asleep, not disturbed by the chilly wind I was feeling. I soon found the source of my discomfort – the door of the balcony was half-open. I quickly put something on me and went to close it. However, not the wind opened it, but there was actually someone on the balcony.

"Henri...?" I asked shyly, stepping into the balcony, which was totally outside, so it was kinda chilly in there. Henri was smoking, propped into the metallic handrail. The balcony was _pretty_ empty, if I have to describe it. There was a white table with two chairs, where there were resting an ashtray, a cigarette holder, and a book – _Das Schloß_ by Franz Kafka [I think Madoka had a book written by Franz Kafka...]

"Oh, excuse me, mademoiselle," he said, turning around to me and placing the remaining part of his cigarette in the ashtray. "I didn't mean to smoke in front of you."

"Uh, no problem. I didn't know you smoke, hehe."

"It's an ugly vice, right?" he asked me indifferently, staring into the starless sky.

"Oh, c'mon, it cannot be as ugly as drugs, right?" I said with a giggle, taking a seat on one of those chairs. "So. What are you doing in here so late at night?"

"Smoking, mademoiselle. Excuse me again if I disturbed you with anything. I think I forgot to close the door."

"Smoking? And what is with this book...?" I asked then, picking the book with beautiful uniform red covers, and saw the bookmark hanging somewhere near the end of the book.

"_That_ book? I've recently read it."

I lifted up my gaze towards him, "What about _The Red and the Black_? Weren't you reading _it_ lately?"

His face suddenly became graver, but a smile appeared on his lips and he stared into the floor. "Oh. You've heard of that book, mademoiselle? Eh. My teacher hated it, however, the maid..."

But his speech suddenly died after the word _maid_. "Never mind, mademoiselle," he corrected himself.

"Okay, then," I sighed, ignoring his behavior, "So, you were _just_ smoking here?"

"Well, not really. I was planning on having a walk in the city tonight, before going to sleep. It's only eleven PM, and I usually go to sleep somewhere around the middle of the night."

"That sounds nice. Can I join?"

I have no idea why I've asked him to take me as well. That time, this seemed a nice idea... Afterwards, I was going to see that it hasn't been such a good choice. Oh, no, no, believe me.

"Sure, why not? If that's what mademoiselle wishes..."

So, we left, letting the hotel room entirely asleep. This time we chose a smaller hotel, so we weren't going to lose ourselves again and maybe get in the laundry room again, who knows... and talk about Wars of the Roses, meet men of the streets, play strip poker, um... and other stuff.

Well, we talked about stuff like skating but that isn't important. What is important is that the guy in the bar was in Stockholm, too! The guy in the bar, remember? The one in Copenhagen, blue-eyed, who helped me talk with the bartender; I think you remember him.

So, it happened after Henri saw a nice shop of souvenirs which was still open at that hour, and told me he'll take a look there. I said that I'll wait for him outside. And I _did_ wait for him.

And, with all the noise on the streets, I clearly heard a voice behind my back.

"Hey, you!"

I turned around, and tried to find the place the voice was coming from. The same voice said, "Yes, you! You!"

"Me?"

"Yup. Come here! Here, behind the corner! C'mon!"

I obeyed curiously, and slowly stepped towards the corner that voice told me to go behind. And that was the guy in the bar! However, he wasn't alone; he had another three guys behind him, and I've noticed that one of them was really fat and really scary.

"This must be yours," the guy in the bar told me indifferently, passing me a small thing which shinning metallically – my necklace; the one I've lost in Iceland, yes. Ah, damn it...

"So _you_'ve stolen it! But... Why do you give it back if you've stolen it?"

He shrugged his shoulders briefly, "It doesn't value anything, babe. Just cheap metal. Keep it for yourself."

"Don't be stupid!" I argued with him, putting my arms akimbo, "You didn't tell me to come here just to give it me, after the way you look. No one says clearly that he has stolen something, right in front of the person he took that thing from! It must be something hidden in here!"

"I see you're not as stupid as I thought. Of course there is something, dear. I saw that you and Wilhelm are really good friends..." And he showed me some kind of smirk I cannot actually describe. I was wondering if he's not cold at night with those ripped clothes he has.

"Wilhelm...? Wilhelm, Wilhelm...? You mean Henri?!"

"I mean what I mean. That blonde guy in brown jacket, which was with you. Isn't his name Wilhelm?"

"Yes, it is, but..."

However, he wasn't listening to me, but his attention was focused somewhere behind me.

"Oh, hello, Wilhelm! Nice to see you again!"

"Nice to see you, too, dear _classmate_."

* * *

"What do you want from me, Tategami?" Henri asked the guy in the bar. We went to a quiet pub to discuss in there, but I was confused. Where does Henri know the guy in the bar from...?

"Ah, c'mon, Wilhelm sweetie, don't you like to see me again? Look, I've brought the revolver, just in case you wanna play a round when you're bored."

Henri sighed deeply, briefly running his hand through his blonde locks in exasperation. "Listen, I'm not in a good mood for this now... I'll give you some bucks; buy yourself whatever you want and leave me alone. And take that damned revolver of yours with you."

He revealed his wallet and idly took some dollars and put them on the table.

"Ah, sweetie, you know money don't bring happiness," the guy replied, giving the money back to Henri. "I actually need something different from you."

"Fine. You'll have anything you want, just disappear from my life. I'm so disgusted that I've ever could meet someone like you. Better go kill yourself. You're just a piece of trash for the society." He looked at me, then, saying: "Excuse me for the indecent words, mademoiselle."

"Well, that's okay, too, Wilhelm sweetie, I don't mind being a piece of trash for the society, but I can't really disappear now."

"Why?"

He got closer to his interlocutor, whispering into his ear: "I'm on a little voyage, Wilhelm sweetie."

"Really...?" Henri asked indifferently.

"Yup," he continued, "But, you see, Wilhelm sweetie, the business didn't work well these months, so I was planning... maybe traveling to different lands, where people would be more interested in this kind of goods... Maybe Baltic countries, maybe Russia... The best would be Eastern Europe – poor people, many infractions, crappy law... What, you really thought business works in countries like Sweden or Denmark? No chance, sweetie, no chance."

The Frenchman looked at him with a bored, but, at the same time, disgusted expression of the face, "Didn't I tell you that I'll pay for everything? You just go to Latvia or Russia or Romania or anywhere you want, do your job, and I'll take care of everything. The only is condition is you to leave me alone."

"You see, Wilhelm sweetie... I heard you're travelling around the Europe this year, and since you're so smart, we were wondering if you could help us. Geography hasn't been one of our favorite subjects in school. I'm not exactly sure if Benkei knows where Europe is situated on the map, if you'd ask him."

"Then why don't you better go and yell on the streets of Stockholm that you're actually here to sell that damned hashish of yours? I'm sure everyone would be pleased to guide your through your big adventure. You choose: money or nothing. In both cases, you leave me alone with my European knowledge. Afterwards, we have no more words to exchange about this."

The guy in the bar smirked calmly. "Then maybe Mélanie is a better topic..."

Henri's face went pale, making all the disgust disappear together with the color of his skin. "Y-You know about her...?" he mumbled, horrified.

"Of course I do, Wilhelm sweetie... But what's the matter? You look pale... Are you perhaps sick?" the guy in the bar said on a tone letting irony to be clearly seen.

"If you tell anything to mom and dad, I'll kill you, using that damn revolver. Literally. No Russian Roulette, no bets, no tequila."

"But, Wilhelm sweetie, how am I supposed tell your parents about this if I'll always be with you, anywhere you would be? C'mon, I'm sure Mélanie would appreciate your effort."

"You're _not_ coming with me, friend," Henri insisted, his fear now fading away a little.

"Then I guess I can say the same thing about your lovely friend. _She's not coming with you_. Say bye-bye to your dear Mélanie."

"Do you realize that I can call the police anytime and tell them everything? And, then, that's it, I'll get both Mélanie and you out of my life; see? _I_ win. Wilhelm, the sweet Wilhelm... he always wins."

"Um... You see, Wilhelm sweetie, I think it is too late..."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... I think the police's already here. Good luck explaining everything, Wilhelm sweetie. You're gonna need it. And so I do..."

And the guy in the bar was right. Soon, the door of that pub opened and some handsome [ehh!] tall men in police outfits entered. They stood in front of our table, and asked formally, using a dirty, almost indistinguishable, but still correct English, dominated by some kind of Germanic accent:

"Excuse me, my gentlemen, but you have to come with us at the station. You, miss, too."

And that's how we managed to get to the police. Ahh, long story short. At any case, I have no idea what is going on. I and Henri got in one cell made for those who are waiting to be interrogated, while the guy in the bar got... um... I don't know where.

At any case, I asked him who that guy is, and why does he call him by his German name, and other stuff. I presumed the guy in the bar is Japanese or maybe Singaporean. At any case, he didn't look European at all.

And guess what Henri told me:

"He's named Kyoya Tategami, and he sells drugs around the world, mademoiselle; more precisely, he and his gang sell drugs. Their predilection is for hashish, but I can't deny they have all kinds of drugs..."

"Drugs?! Henri, you must be kidding me! You wanted to help someone who sells drugs?! Henri, won't we get in trouble?!"

"Calm down, mademoiselle, calm down... Remember, we haven't done anything. We're just tourists. They have no proof that we actually helped him and his gang. Maybe I'm guilty because I knew they sell drugs and didn't tell the police, but nothing else is wrong."

Surprisingly, he seemed really calm; and that calm of his was scarily contrasting with the panic I was feeling. So, _I_ was actually just a tourist ['cause I'm not really sure if Henri's true reason to be here is tourism...] and suddenly got to the Swedish police because I met some kind of guy who sells drugs... Isn't this funny, ha? At any case, I continued to question my strange 'friend' about this guy.

"But... why does he wander from country to country? Wouldn't it be easier just to sell the drugs in Singapore, for example? I heard Singaporean people are really on drugs. They say Asian people who are on drugs go there. Or Netherlands! Drugs are legal in Netherlands, right?"

"Yeah, but probably prices are higher in countries where it is illegal due to the risk the seller assumes..."

I sighed. "Anyway, how did you meet him? It's pretty surprisingly that you met a drug dealer."

"Well... He has been sporadically to some lessons of foreign languages. We met in Berlin, where I was living. As I said, he sells drugs, and he has been in Berlin, too. I was learning Danish, and somehow we met at a lesson. I've always hated him. What I know is that he's good in Nordic languages, but he's not smart at all. He knows basic phrases in many languages, since he needs them in his business."

"Uh, and why does he call you 'Wilhelm'?"

"That's... Um... Maybe you won't understand this, but... because I'm German, he considers me some kind of Aryan, so he won't call me by my French name."

"Aryan?"

"You probably don't know what I'm talking about, mademoiselle. Nazi considered that German people were descendants of Aryans. Aryan people were Nazis' ideal people, considered by them 'pure people', racially superior to the others. Nazis wanted to exterminate everyone who was not an Aryan, because they wanted the population of the world to be the same race. Basically, the world's population should've own only to one single race – the Aryan race. Aryan people were blonde, with fragile texture of the hair, light colored eyes – preferably blue – extremely white, pinkish skin, which is sensitive to sun and never gets tan."

"Um... So, basically, just like you, except for the eyes, which, in your case, are black?"

"Exactly. But my whole family has blonde hair and blue eyes; my family says I'm a rare specimen because I'm black-eyed, but I think there has to be one of my predecessors who hasn't been blue-eyed, maybe a great-great-grandaunt... So, yeah, maybe I'm some kind of Aryan..."

"Okay, that's weird. So you say your entire family is blonde? Naturally? But how could it be...?"

He melancholically smiled to me. "I have no idea, mademoiselle, believe me. Maybe just luck..."

I paused for a little, remembering the dialogue my interlocutor just had with the guy in the bar. Something caught my ear, hehe. Oh, yes, how could it not catch your ear a name like Mélanie...? So, forgetting all that anxiety I was going through, my mind started to imagine everything. The name is, in fact, an ugly one. It makes me think about weird things. Maybe it reminds me about molasses... However, it starts with M...

Ah, I think I've got it. Excepting the part with the tulips. This guy is a whole mystery, makes you feel like Miss Marple or like Sherlock Holmes... I think I'll be a detective when I grow up! [Well, I'm already sort of grown up, ehehe...]

Wait... Why not starting right now? This'll be my first case! It'll be named... _The Secret of the Funny Named Girl_. I'll start investigating! And I'll write a book! Just like one of Agatha Christie's books!

But before beginning the investigations I should find myself a new name, right?

And my detective name will be... Um... I have to find myself a detective name, since Hikaru Hasama sounds weird... Um... The Aqua Fox? Nah... Maybe I should find myself a false name! Like... Josephine, a.k.a. Josie... Nah, it sounds too weird... Um... Let's think again...

_**A/N: Hey again, mes amis. So, as you see, this'll be continued in the next chapter, until it reaches the paragraphs in italics. I hope Hiku's gonna find herself a detective name soon XDD Then she'll start the investigation XDD *sweatdrops* This chapter is probably full of some ugly mistakes, because I'm kinda sick at the moment -_- My mind doesn't work properly now -_-**_

_**Oh, and 'Der Abendstern' [In English – 'The Evening Star'] is a love poem by a Romanian writer, Mihai Eminescu, generally considered the longest love poem ever written [The original name, in Romanian, is 'Luceafărul']. It has 98 verses. And 'Das Schloß' would be, in English, 'The Castle'.**_


	7. Sneezes like Corruption

**Chapter VII:** Sneezes like Corruption

**~Later**

So, yeah, to continue with the story... Of course, I was angry because I really wanted to begin my investigations and find out the truth... and it looked like this whole thingy with the police was not letting me.

And we waited. For kinda long, eh.

Aaand, I thought it would be a great idea to try to obtain some more information from Henri, for my investigation. I started slowly, and tried to take everything I needed from him.

"So," I began again, like it was just an usual discussion, "Do you know what the clock is?"

He stole a quick look at his watch, and told me drily, "It's 1 a.m., mademoiselle."

I nodded my head slowly to approve his answer, and continued, "So... Do you like Science? I mean, in school, did you like... for example, Biology?" [Don't worry, I'm asking this just because I don't wanna directly ask him about Mélanie. And it wouldn't look like a complicated case if he just told me everything, right?]

"Biology! Biology is my worst nightmare, mademoiselle... I was once about to repeat a study year because of Biology. But Chemistry is nice. I still remember the Mendeleev table."

I sweat dropped, embarrassed, throwing him a confused gaze. "You know the Mendeleev table...? I mean, you've known it in school? You know to say the elements in order?!"

"Yeah, why? It's not actually hard – it's just complicated."

"Uh... And... have you... um... I don't know... _shared_ your passion for Chemistry with anyone special?"

"What do you mean, mademoiselle?"

Realizing that I actually said something unsuitable, I immediately corrected myself, "No, nothing... Um... What about telling me something about Charles V?"

He laughed, but it seemed more like a tired and melancholic laugh, "Oh, mademoiselle, mademoiselle... You ask me about Chemistry then suddenly want me to talk about Charles Quint. How is my mind supposed to make the transition so fast?"

"Uh, I'm sorry; if you don't wanna talk about him, then we won't..."

"Oh, no worries, mademoiselle, I'm sure Charles Quint will make a great topic while we're waiting."

**~Even Later**

The barred door of the cell lazily opened at the action of a fat and old policeman. He was chewing some gum, and, exposing his ballooned abdomen, he ordered with a yawn, "Time to get out, guys. Let me check your identity cards and you're free from now."

I swiftly raised an eyebrow, "What...?"

"Exactly what you heard. C'mon, we'll bring other people here, so move." He gave the identity cards some quick looks, then returned them back to their owners, saying, "That's fine."

"But... I'm Japanese," I replied, "You don't seem to understand it, so how can you say whether my identity card is okay or not... Shouldn't you check my passport, maybe?"

"You know what, babe, just leave and forget everything! If I tell you something, you'll just listen and shut up! I am really busy right now, and if you tell anyone, I'll kill you. So just leave and be grateful that you're not in jail because of the drugs thingy."

* * *

When we left, I understood why we actually got out of the prison. Oh, yes, I smell corruption! Corruption...! Where are you...? You know you can't hide! Corruptiooon... Are you behind that trash can, perhaps?

Haha, at least I can write my book now that I'm out of prison. I've got so many ideas...! Ah, I'm wondering what Madoka would say...

So, to explain, everything is easy. That strange guy from thebar paid the lawmen to bring everyone out. Corruption, see? After we left, we met him somewhere around the station, in a small park; he was waiting for us so we can talk.

"So, have you decided? I've let you think while you were there. Was this enough?" the guy in the bar asked directly.

"Whatever," Henri sighed indifferently, sitting down next to him on one of those benches. Then his attention fell down on the guy's hand, which was clenching around a gun. "You can give me the revolver now."

The guy in the bar idly passed the asked object to him. "It's silent; they won't hear you. And when you need help, just tell me."

"I don't need your help; it just happens that I forgot my revolver at the hotel, that's all," he explained patiently while charging the revolver and spinning it like it was something usual for him. After he assured himself that it was not fully charged, he slowly pointed it towards the temple of his head and prepared to pull the trigger.

Okay, that's cool. Nothing happened to him when he pulled the trigger. He pulled it several times before he gave it back to the guy in the bar. But... what does he mean by _I forgot my revolver at the hotel_? Oh, this starts to get interesting. Henri once told me that he played Russian Roulette, but never said that he actually has a gun. And... ah, damn it. This guy has been lying to everyone since the beginning. He seems dubious to me.

I thought he's that kind of nice and nerd guy who always reads boring books and never has fun... And what do I realize? He is a vicious person and knows a drug dealer! There's something about a girl Mélanie who makes the color of his face disappear instantly... He's some kind of Aryan (Well, you have to admit that he looks good... He's not an 'ugly' person... But neither the drug dealer is, hehe), and seems really rich and he's calm as hell when he gets into a prison cell! Something's not alright... The drug dealer is suspect, too... They're more suspect than Yu! [Considering that Yu is still suspect, you know...]

"Wait, wait, I want it, too!" I yelled to them in protest. The guy in the bar lifted his gaze towards me, raising his eyebrow untrustingly.

"You sure, babe? We're not kidding with this," he warned me, softly placing his lips above his revolver, caressing it like something very precious. "This is a jewel. If you break it, you'll get in some big trouble, be sure about this."

"I won't break it, I promise," I assured him, carefully taking the revolver from his hands, and spinning it. I said that I'll try it one day, well, here I am!

However, I couldn't actually _play_ because, when I wanted to pull the trigger, a bright light shined onto my face; it was coming from the lights of a car which parked somewhere around that park, piercing through the semidarkness.

I couldn't distinguish its color or anything characteristic, but, because there were streetlights somewhere around the place we were staying, I could see that the faces of the boys suddenly became graver at seeing that someone was getting out of the car and actually coming towards them.

There was a dizzy shadow getting closer and closer, outlined by the big amount of light. It was a man, for sure.

"Not again..." the guy in the bar whispered quivery. "I don't have any more money to give, Wilhelm sweetie."

"Wait, wait, wait!" I interrupted nervously, "You mean this is the police? And we're gonna give them money to let us out again?"

The guy in the bar gave me a critical look through his clear blue eyes. "You mean _I_'m gonna give them money again," he corrected.

In that time, Henri took off his brown jacket and also unbuttoned two of the black buttons of his pale yellow shirt, loosing his necktie (which was already really loose, don't worry), like yearning for more air. "It's not the police, don't worry."

Finally, we saw a man, as I said, a kinda old one (he seemed to be older than 40), and, for my surprise, he had blonde hair, I saw it! You could recognize the curly light colored hair even in semidarkness. However, I didn't distinguish the color of the eyes.

Nevertheless, I instantly figured out that it was one of Henri's relatives. So he wasn't lying when he told me that his family are blonde-haired. That's fascinating... I have to remember this detail for my detective book!

I hid behind a bush before the man could see me. I did that because that man didn't seem like one who wants to give us yummy ice-cream, eh... And he snatched Henri's wrist and pulled him aside, to a quieter place of the park, where he began to yell and argue with him using a strident German. Henri sometimes replied, in German, too, but the man didn't listen to him; instead, he continued to maniacally cut his words.

After the discussion chilled down a little, I caught some of the speeches they were exchanging. Sadly, they all were in pure German, which I don't speak. To write a good book, I definitely needed to understand something, so I tried to steal Henri's attention by gesticulating and asking him to speak in English so I could've understand what is going on. I dunno why he actually obeyed to me, but he began to throw English phrases to that man, however, without forgetting to use German from time to time. And, without even noticing, the blonde man began speaking English as well, with the cleanest German accent. At least that's what I name a German accent.

So, I've caught a piece of the dialogue. They (especially the man) were talking about... um... _what the heck Henri was doing in Sweden_; _why the heck is he with that guy_,_ who_, in his vision,_ is carrying illegal guns and drugs_ and stuff like these. Then I realized that he was dressed like a policeman.

Meanwhile, the strange guy was 'robbing' Henri, by searching in the pockets of his brown jacket and stealing his cigarette case. He lit a cigarette, slowly, like nothing was happening, and began puffing lazily, staring at the Aryan man who was arguing with Henri.

"Ah, Wilhelm and his damn Kent... I should show him what a fine cigarette means. He's lucky that I forgot my pack at my inexistent home..." And the guy in the bar let out of his mouth a small cloud of smoke, staring intensely at it as it was fading away into the cold air.

In that time, the man chilled down and sat down on a bench, lighting a cigarette, just as the guy in the bar did, and smoking it bitterly, after the expression of his face. Henri wasn't looking at him, but he seemed to listen when the man told him:

"I ask again..."

"And I again tell you that there's no 'tournament' for money. There was nothing between me and him," Henri replied calmly. "We're just some kind of friends and we accidentally met. We're not even traveling together."

"And what's with the revolver, then...?"

"We were just playing, what the heck! The revolver, it uses plastic balls, you can check it..."

"Yeah, let's just check it after that guy probably changed everything about it... Yeah, sure... By the way, where's that guy? I wanna tell him something... He seems suspicious to me..."

Henri nervously ran his hand through his blonde locks, gripping the man by his shoulder. "You know what? – just forget that you saw me here. He's just my friend and that's all."

"Shut up! Can't you understand how grave what you've done is? I'm embarrassed to go to work again! Everyone will be twittering around about how boss's nephew got in prison! My nephew! In Sweden! And what will they say? Ah, _ja_, _ja_, they'll say that he sold some really heavy drugs here, in Stockholm, and also played Russian Roulette with some illegal guns! He, who should've been an example for everyone, he... he was... selling drugs in the country, in the city his uncle works in, as a lawman!"

"_Bei Gott_...! I'm not selling any drugs, monsieur! Can't you just accept this...? Ah, you know what...? Give me a cigarette, for God's sake. I swear that, if Bin Laden kidnaps me, I won't struggle to escape."

"Ha," the man mumbled, taking a cigarette from his own cigarette case and passing it to Henri. "You'd wish."

Henri searched inside his pockets for a lighter, but didn't find anything since the only lighter he had was in his brown jacket, which he let on that bench. "...and a lighter, please."

The man obeyed to him. Henri lit the cigarette, but began to cough after he let some smoke out of his mouth. "Ah, is this Viceroy? Since when do you smoke cheap cigarettes, monsieur? They're absolutely awful. Damn this economic crisis."

The man shrugged, looking away from Henri, as you could see his eyes glimmering in the faint light of the streetlights. "I've met up with Iris, by the way," he suddenly mumbled, puffing his cigarette. "I think she's in Russia now. Unlike you, she's not selling drugs."

"Don't compare me with Carlota, monsieur. Ask Carlota about Charles Quint and see if she knows to tell you anything."

"At any case, this Carlota you're talking about, whose real name is actually Iris for her, well, she didn't get in prison..."

Henri stood up with somewhat honor and talked, "Monsieur, please, stop offending me. I'm not going to take your aberrations anymore. _Bonsoir_. _Auf wiedersehen_, _**mein Führer**_."

He calmly buttoned the buttons of his shirt that I said he had unbuttoned earlier, and, straightening his back, he twisted around on his heels and, with some memorable dignity, took some steps to return to the place where his jacket was.

"Wait, wait, you don't go anywhere!" the man yelled, whirling Henri around by his wrist. "I ask you once again... Who is this guy...? And that girl who's hiding there and eavesdropping to our conversation...?"

WHATT? How the f**k did he see me? I was hidden to well, like a ninja! I was like... like Hercule Poirot eavesdropping! Uh, if I think again... I think _that_ was my problem...

"Just some friends, monsieur, just some friends. Mes amis, monsieur. I've accidentally met him here, but I'm not travelling with him, and the lady is another friend I've met on the trip to Norway, and now we're travelling together since we have the same itinerary."

"And... why is she hiding in the bushes?"

And that's when the passage in italic begins. When Henri said that he doesn't know, the man changed the topic back to the thingy with the Russian Roulette. And now you know how we arrived in here... So, yeah, it's kinda complicated.

At any case, it didn't stop there. Oh, no, no, no. When asked to explain what the f*ck is going on with him, he answered that 'he can't explain the simplest feelings to someone like him". Henri told him to go on and bring the guy in the bar into the prison, but the man said that, if he did this, he would be needed to lock Henri too. He also mentioned that he lets Henri in peace just because he is _Franz's son_.

So, yeah, there's no need to continue. I'm sure you didn't understand anything, just like me. I don't even get why this damn authoress has to complicate everything, but EVERYTHING in this damn story. Henri, Carlota, Iris, Franz, Mélanie, and the reverse – Mélanie, Franz, Iris, Carlota, Henri, etc., etc. AAAND the guy in the bar!

Anyway, at 3 o'clock in the morning we were back to the hotel. Together with the guy in the bar. Before entering the room, the guys had a discussion.

"Listen, I can't take another room now, so you'll sleep in the balcony tonight," Henri began. "And... give me back the cigarette case, please."

The guy in the bar searched in his pocket and revealed the perfect silver case. "Meh. The cigarettes were crappy anyway. Keep your crappiness."

Henri carefully slid the case in the pocket of his jacket and continued, "Be careful so you won't wake up the other people. I won't be happy about them seeing me with someone like you. So... Now tell me, Mama Russia, Bulgaria or maybe Romania, for gypsies...? Think about it... Rich gypsies mean much cocaine..."

"Where are you planning on going next?"

"Finland."

"And afterwards?"

"Mama Russia, mon ami, Mama Russia..."

"That's perfect. Give me five. I'm coming with you. Mama Russia, we're coming!"

"Whatever..."

"Ah... What a day... I'm wondering how the heck we will catch the plane if we're in this state..." I complained nervously, scratching the back of my head as opening the door of the hotel room.

"Well, this is actually the true sense of the word lunatic, right?" Henri corrected me, "It means having no plans, no money in your pocket, it means being _irresponsible_, right? Getting into prison, too... So... Who cares, as long as you don't it alone? Anyway, _bonne nuit_, mademoiselle."

He showed me some kind of sad smile before getting inside his room.

Well, maybe he's right somehow... I shouldn't care so much about everything since I should just have fun, with Madoka, right...?

The guy in the bar went to the balcony. I went to my room, but, don't worry, the day hasn't ended yet...

When I entered my room, I found out that not everyone was sleeping. I was hearing noises from one of the rooms. No, not _that_ kind of noises, but it seemed like someone was... um... sneezing. And coughing.

And, there, in my room, there was a big 'mountain' of used handkerchiefs proudly lying on the floor. On the table there was some nasal spray, together with Madoka's goggles and some more handkerchiefs pressing their weight against Mark Twain's _A Connecticut Yankee in King's Arthur Court_, which looked like it has been forgotten there for ages, maybe even since sixth century...

"Ow, wello, Hikaru," I heard Madoka's voice saluting me. She was sitting on the bed, blowing her nose constantly, and, next to her, there was, Gingka, who was continuously sneezing.

"Um... Anything happened, guys?" I shyly asked, half-opening the door to see the room better.

"Yeah... Someone let the door widely open so we've caught a cold, for f**k's sake!" She blew her nose.

Oh... I think... I forgot the door of the balcony opened when I left with Henri... Hehehe...

Anyway... It doesn't matter anymore. It was too late to begin writing my book; I wanted it to be something well-written, and tiredness doesn't help. I just took some notes to remember everything I've discovered that day and tomorrow I was finding myself writing.

And... yeah, we've decided that we should stay one more day in Sweden since Madoka, Gingka caught such an awful cold.

But... There's something I don't understand... Girls' room is the only one which is next to the balcony... So... how did Gingka actually catch a cold...? He should've been in his room, right? Is this what I think it is...?

Oh, boy... _It's not actually hard – it's just complicated..._ Yeah, whatever. Tomorrow I've got to find the revolver and maybe Carlota's number in Henri's cell phone. And also so many stuff...

* * *

_**A/N: Wello, wello, my friends! Want some virtual cake? It's my b-day today, haha. Happy b-day to me, wee! Anyway, that was the new chappie XDD See you next time, my Yankees [I'm not American but whatever XDD]. See you next time to everyone, not just to Americans XDDD Hey, you've also noticed that Obama rhymes with Osama, right? Lol. Anyway, I gotta go to do nothing...**_

Bonsoir = good evening (French)

Auf wiedersehen = goodbye (German)

Bonne nuit = goodnight (French)

Führer is a German title meaning absolute leader; Adolf Hitler called himself 'führer', so the term is generally associated with Nazi. 'Mein Führer' would be 'my leader' in German.


End file.
